Tractor wheel traction chain



Jan. 19, 1932.

Y L. E. CADWELL ET AL TRACTOR WHEEL TRACTION 0min Filed March 15, 1931 I [/2 v e/zi-ons, L'ea/fe E. Cadu/e/L and Ear/ E. [sen/Lower,

Patented Jan. 19,1932 I near an tares LESLIE n. canwnm. AND EARL rsnnnown for' mniannronis, I IANA V RACTOR WHEEL mime onArir- T Application filed March ia sarjseriaino. 522,313;

This invention relates to the art of tractor drive wheels and particularly to detachable means for increasing the traction of the wheels. w

51 A primary purpose'of the invention is to provide a removable structure adaptedto he applied to a smooth tread wheel to prevent slippage of the wheel in driving. 'Hereto fore, cleats or lugs of some type have been 10 attached, usually permanently, toithe tread of the drive wheel. Such means seriously V damage improved surface roads and many districts prohibit their use on theroads. To

remove and again attach suclrcleats or lugs to the usual tractor wheel which maybe as large as seven or eight feet in diameter and" have atread two feet wide merely to cross a roadis an operation requiring ahout a day. Qur invention eliminates this trouble-in that 39 the'structurewe provide may be readily removed and replaced within a. matter of minutes. Y A further important object resides in the provision of a removable traction device which has a continuous road contacting line whereby the wheel may" roll evenly Without up and down travel as has been the usual operation where spaced lugs or cleats were employed. i.

Another important object resides in the provision of the particular means for secur .ing the deviceto the wheel which permits the tightening of the device about the Wheel to prevent movement thereon andwhich permits its easy removal. V

These and other ob ects Wlll become apparent in the following description of the inven tion as illustrated in one particular form-in the accompanymg drawings, lnwhich I j Fig. 1 is a perspective. view of a rim of a wheel with theinvention applied thereto Fig. 2, a section on theline 22 in Fig. 1;

and I m Fig. 3, a plan view of the securing' mechanism.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views in thedrawmgs.

lVe. provide a contmuous length of ,'cha1n 10 with aplurality of hooks 11- secured there-v to at spaced apart intervals.,, The chain is V placed around the treadof the wheel rim 12, here-shown ,as having a cylindrical tread with smooth edges, in a zigzag arrangement, 7

Tone hookll being engaged overth'e edge of the T1111 on oneside' andlthe next hook.en-

. T'gaged overithe opposite; edge. The hooks are spaced apart one from the other alongthe chaina distance greater "than the rim wi'dth] d 7 lso that as the chain is 'appliedto the'rim', it is pulled "diagonallyfthereacross between the hooks.

j The chain lOhas alength forthelparticu T 12117 rimsizeto'havethetwo' ends approach @ne-anotheratone sidegof the rim, and hooks, 11 $11 114 are l $d he r spe v ends F Ito-engage over thjesa'me rim cdge in relative c1956, proi ill ityoneto the other; f'Theho '13. has'o' l fend of a'rack bar la-pivoted thered I the tongue 17 where" it joins the plate 16 v serves as" thejguide on the hackieidge of the em as possible lovlliand-tofpull tliechain' 1O againstthe' rim' '12to take out all pos sihle' slack; I The gear..- 118. is provided with a handle 19, then in the position as indicated 'the.;' dash "lines,-'r "3, fwlien the side I a i l is itoward 'fthe; bar teeth. hen the. 1 bar 15 'lias' b'een pulled ip-gas 'far' as; passing, the

handle 'is'iswung aroundfto: cause the teeth i v ofth'e gear'IS to mesh withthe teeth of the bar 9'5" therepastfll t I); p

' swung'around;until-itisape I proitiinat'eljparallel to tli eobarzlfi.to'bringthev outer en'do er theplatefififofthe hook'lfifand Q) s 1 i under the lip 21. A cap screw 22 is passed held by the lip and capiscrew to retain the through the lip on the outside of the handle rack bar in its drawn position. l9 and screw-threadedly engaged in the plate 20 as a means of holdingthe handle so as to maintain the chainunder the great tension secured through the leverage of the handle In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

and gear in pulling the chainends toward each other, g V t i Y Removing the chain is accomplished by taking out the screw 22 and allowing'the' handle 19 to return tohave the 'flat side a of i the gear 18 toward the rack bar 15, whereupon the bar may be slipped out'and rmitthe hooks 13 and 14 to be disengage from the rim edge, after which, the hooks 11 one one may be disengaged from the rim ed es.

desired to 'meet varying soil conditions.

Since the chain zigzags across the face of the the ground isfimit'ormly the height 01": the

chainlinks at all times. The links serve. very The size of the chain links may be varie as effectively in biting into the surface trav- 'elle d' over whether itbe ice, snow, mud, or the ordinary surface soil, to prevent slippage of i the wheel rim under hard pulls; a

It is to be noted thatjthe chain 10 is to be pulled back and forth across the face of the rim 12 between the hooks 11' under tension so that when the chain ends are pulled toward 'each, other,the chain becomes wedged on the .rimr so; tightly to. prevent its slip ing' therearoundf By simply varyingfthe c ain length. the same structure. adapted to fitv a wide range of wheel rims;

'While we have new 'hownf and described our invention in the one best form as now known to us, it is obviouslthat structural V variations may be utilizedwithout departing, from the spirit of the invention, and we,

therefore, do not desireto, be limited to that form. nor any more than may be requiredby the iollowing claim.'

We claim 1 For a wheel having a demountable tractionattachment comprising a chain adapted tobe laid about the rim of'the wheel, said edge and the terminal hooksbeing in ifela .tively close proxim-ity,a rack bar fixed toone.

of saidterminal hooks, a lip also fixedtothat V hook, a cap screw through the lip, a gear rev ole-ably mounted on theother. terminal hook," I said gear'having a flat side adaptedfto perm-it said bar to be ca-r'riedpastsaid gear across the said other vhook without revolving the 7 gear, and a handle torevolve the gear to eause it to mesh w th said rack bar to draw it across said othsrihoee a ih n seiapee e 1 LESLIE E. GADWELL. 

